Chapter 17 : Sameer as Sahil-Shristi version

Back at the Arora Mansion, the atmosphere was combustible. Mr. Arora’s face was contorted in pure, unadulterated rage. Without warning, his hand whipped across the room—CRACK!—landing a brutal slap squarely across Inspector Tawde’s face.

Tawde staggered backward, clutching his jaw.

"What gave you the right to put Shristi’s picture on television?!" Arora roared, his voice shaking the walls. "On whose permission did you broadcast my daughter's face like a common criminal?!"

"Sir... Sir, please listen to me," Tawde stammered, raising his hands defensively. "I thought... I thought this was the only way left to catch Shristi and Sameer."

Mehta, standing nearby, lost his patience entirely. He stepped forward, eyes flashing with irritation. "What Sameer? Sameer again?! Didn't that eyewitness woman just tell you in clear, unmistakable words that the boy with Shristi was someone else? And yet you—"

"Sir—" Tawde tried to cut in, desperate to justify his incompetence.

"Shut up!" Mehta snapped, cutting him off brutally. He turned to Sub-Inspector Pradhan, gesturing wildly at Tawde. "Pradhan, what the hell has happened to this buffoon? Why does he keep making these catastrophic mistakes?"

Arora stepped into Tawde's space, his breathing heavy, his gaze lethal. "Because of your goddamn craziness, my daughter is out there running for her life. I swear, I feel like killing you with a bullet right now."

RING! RING!

The sudden, sharp chime of the office landline sliced through the thick tension. Arora ripped the receiver off the hook. "Hello?!"

"Daddy? Hello, Daddy." It was Shristi. She was standing at a roadside PCO, her knuckles white around the receiver, while Rishabh stood guard beside the booth, scanning the street.

"Shristi! Shristi, where are you, dear?!" Arora cried out, his anger instantly melting into desperate panic.

"Daddy, I can't tell you where I am," Shristi said quickly, her voice trembling but resolute. "I know the landline is tapped, and I know there is a police detail watching over every single exit outside our house. But I am absolutely fine, Daddy. I will call you again."

"Hello? Shristi! Don't hang up! Shristi—!"

The line went dead with a harsh dial tone. Arora slowly lowered the receiver, his face pale.

Mehta rushed to his side. "What happened? What did she say?"

Arora didn't answer Mehta. Instead, his gaze locked onto Tawde like a predator. "You put a police lockdown outside my house?"

Tawde swallowed hard, breaking into a cold sweat. "Yes, sir."

"Why?!" Arora screamed, slamming his hand on the desk. "You know my daughter’s life is at grave risk! Why are you blocking her from coming to her own home?!"

"Sir, there are no restrictions on her coming home," Tawde pleaded, backpedaling furiously. "I just... I just wanted to keep an eye out for Sameer. If he shows up—"

"Again with Sameer?!" Arora bellowed, stepping so close Tawde could feel his breath. "If you do not end this ridiculous 'Sameer chapter' right this second, I will personally strip you of your badge and throw you out of the force! Sameer is dead!"

*

Meanwhile, at the secluded boathouse, a shadow slipped over the wooden railing. Sameer hauled himself inside, his clothes damp, his chest heaving as he recovered from the frantic police chase.

"Shristi?" he called out softly into the dim light, checking if she had made it back safely.

There was no answer from Shristi. Instead, Sameer stopped dead in his tracks. Sitting quietly on a wooden crate in the center of the boathouse was Rohan.

Sameer rushed forward, dropping to his knees. "Rohan... Rohan, how did you get here? How did you find this place?"

Rohan looked up, his eyes wide and innocent, filled with a deep, childlike longing. "Brother... I’ve come to take you home. Please, come home with me."

Sameer’s heart ached. He gently placed his hands on Rohan’s shoulders, trying to calm his trembling brother down as he sat beside him. "No, Amit... listen to me. At this moment, I can't come home."

Rohan’s expression fell. "I know why, brother. You’re scared, aren't you? You're scared that the police will fire at you again."

Sameer froze. His brow furrowed in deep confusion and curiosity. "How... how do you know the police fired upon me?"

"Because I saw it," Rohan whispered, staring blankly ahead. "I saw it with my own eyes."

Sameer’s breath hitched. "What did you see, Rohan?"

"The day you had your big show," Rohan began, his voice trembling as the memories flooded back.

"I was waiting for you. You had promised you were going to take me with you. I wanted to give you a present, so I ran down to the shop to buy some fruits. But when I came back to the exact spot where you told me to wait... I heard it. The loud sound of gunshots."

The boathouse had gone completely silent. Sameer didn't notice it, but behind him, the shadows moved. Rishabh, Kabir, Shristi, Harry Uncle, and Christine Aunt had all quietly entered, stepping into the room one by one. They stood frozen in the background, hanging onto Rohan's every word.

"I got scared," Rohan continued, tears welling in his eyes. "I ran down into the basement to find you, and I saw you running for your life. I tried to scream, brother! I called out your name over and over again! But I was trapped inside the glass gate entrance of the basement... it was completely soundproof. You couldn't hear me."

Rohan gripped Sameer’s sleeve, his voice cracking. "And then, just as you narrowly escaped, the bad men kept shooting. A stray bullet hit the soundproof glass. It shattered everywhere. And right after it broke, I heard one of the men shout into his phone... 'Sirji, Sameer has seen everything.'"

Sameer stared at his brother, the final piece of the horrifying puzzle clicking into place. Behind him, Shristi and Rishabh exchanged a look of pure shock. The truth was finally out—and the stakes had just become deadly.

Then Sameer questions others "Who is this sirji?"

then Rishabh asks Rohan "Rohan can you identify the 3 of them?"

Rohan nods his head in a yes and then Rishabh says ,"Have you seen them before?"

"No I haven't , If I see them then I can recognize them".

Then Harry uncle raises a question, "How can we make Rohan to spot the three of them?"

Then Sameer says, "there is one way...There is one way where we can bring the 3 of them together.I have to come forward.They will think am alive and try to attack me again and Rohan will recognize them.But the question is how will I come forward?"

Then Rishabh says , "Yes there is a way, why don't we annouce the show, which Sameer had left half way.We run posters around the whole city that Sameer is back"

Then Kabir says "That's a good plan, full top notch plan, listening to the news of the show, they will come 100%, They will have to come.Everywhere we will put TV cameras and tvs, and from the TVs Rohan will identify them "

then Harry uncle says "Hey that's a good idea"

then Kabir warns them , "But remember, apart from us, no one needs to know about this .Come on Rishabh we have to start the preparations".

Then Shristi thinks to herself that she shouldnt loose her Sameer again

*

By the sea shore, Shristi was standing and on the boathouse while Sameer was going through his lyrics book he suddenly spots Shristi and then Sameer comes towards Shristi who was standing by the shore and he calls out to Shristi

"Shristi what are you doing here?"

"Sameer, there won't be any show and I won't let any show happen"

then Sameer says, "But why? Don't you won't the people behind my this state be known and put behind bars?"

then Shristi says, "Yes I want that but I can't put your life at risk again .Anything can happen in the show."

then Sameer says "I am not scared of my life.Atleast you will come to know about the truth "

"But why do you want to put your life at risk for me when you don't remember me as your love...Why?"

"Because I love you"